Anyone else feel like this was “redux” week? As I was mentioning to Heidi on Twitter, there were several costumes, songs, and even routines that felt a bit recycled to me from previous seasons – I’m sure some of you noticed them as well. But I won’t go into detail, because we’ll save it for the Cheesecake Awards & perhaps an edition of “Who Wore it Better?”

All dittoing aside, another great night of dancing, and I’m still astonished at how no one really & truly sucks this season…well, except for Bolton ON WITH THE RANKINGS!!!

1.) Jennifer & Derek - My god, I am still in awe of how great a body this woman has at her age. And at how well she moves! This jive was sharp, sassy, and totally adorable – Jen definitely kept up with Derek’s choreography well, and it was of course choreography that was very well-suited to each beat of the music. She did seem to run out of steam a bit in the middle, but I can’t blame her in the slightest…poor woman must’ve been feeling faint, because it looked like someone had given her something to eat off-camera that she was still swallowing when they got their scores. It looks like Jen is quickly becoming the sentimental favorite this season, but one really nice thing about Jen is that she also CAN ACTUALLY DANCE These two seem totally safe this week – if the booing after they got their scores (which were still the highest of the week, but I agree – they should’ve been a point or two higher) is any indicator, there are a lot of fans in Jen’s camp, and they’re bound and determined to keep their girl in!

2.) Audrina & Tony – 2nd highest score of the week, and a hilarious bit about Tony having to wax his legs – plus a really well-choreographed quickstep that Audrina actually pulled off well. I gotta give Tony props – this was some great quickstep choreography. Very nice balance of basic steps and flashier tricks. Audrina definitely improved this week, and seemed to be a bit more comfortable moving her body this time. Still seems a bit tentative with her movements (and still not a lot of facial expressions), which I’m hoping continues to improve week after week. And DAMN – Audrina has got some wicked abs. I noticed them last week, but something about her dress this week just really drew my eyes to them. Great performance, great score, and great comedy. People will remember them, and memorability (is that a word? Call me Mama Palin ) equals votes. These two should be safe.

3.) Kyle & Lacey – There were two male contestants that had the hens in my office all a-twitter (and not actually on Twitter – half of them don’t even know what it is) last week – and Kyle was one of them. Can’t blame them – this kid is an absolute RIOT out on that floor. I always find myself so amused by him, his facial expressions, and the gusto with which he attacks each step. Is his technique impeccable? Hell no, but then again I don’t think any of Lacey’s partners have been praised heavily for their technique – if there’s one pro that can help their partner get by solely on showmanship, it’s Lacey. Luckily, though, Kyle does have some degree of skill…some skills I hope he continues to develop as the show progresses, because I have a feeling the judges may grow a bit weary of his sometime-sloppy (but very enthusiastic!) approach. Pretty sure their presence in the bottom 2 last week was a complete ruse, and these two will be one of the first announced as safe this week – especially with some very weak scores by other contestants lurking out there…

4.) Rick & Cheryl – This man continues to astound me, not only with that GORGEOUS megawatt smile of his (mmmm :-D) but also by his busting of every single stereotype there is on the show about very tall men. That jive was good, PERIOD. Not just “good for someone that’s 6-foot-7″ – he was light, he was crisp, he was on-time, and he was having a great time. It was a delight to watch – both he and Kurt are the two guys who give me warm fuzzies everytime they dance, because they seem like the two that are just so daggone happy to be there that they could get the lowest score of the week and still thank the judges for the opportunity to dance. I actually Rick & Cheryl were underscored a bit (Heidi concurs), but 21 is still a solid score, especially with the points spread so wide this week (I’ll leave it to my cohort to elaborate). They also have the boon of going first, which always helps.

5.) Bristol & Mark – If you had told me in the preseason that I’d be ranking these two this high, I would have laughed quite heartily before offering you a great deal on some swampland in Florida But something about Bristol seems very endearing and likeable, and a part of me is really wanting to see her do well on the show. This quickstep was pretty damn simple, yes, and probably overscored a bit; but Bristol seemed to roll with the punches (from Mark’s nose, hehe) quite well this week, and came across as very classy in this dance. She held her own and stayed on time. Loved her dress – thought she looked really pretty this week, in a very age-appropriate, understated way. Also seemed to love the way that she seemed to quietly laugh and shake her head like “Oh, mom” whenever Mama Palin talked. The simple fact that they got the coveted pimp spot this week tells me that they may be pulling in far more votes than we initially thought they were – I’m calling these two as safe for at least the next 2 weeks, especially if Bristol continues to improve.

6.) Brandy & Maks – Erm. Little bit of a stutter from these two this week – I don’t think the jive was really Brandy’s dance, as she definitely seemed to struggle to keep up and they did get off-time in a few spots. The parts where she was in control (like her solo, which I’m not sure was a very good choice choreographically – judges didn’t seem to like it), this girl looked great, and seemed like she was having the time of her life; unfortunately, those seemed outnumbered by the parts where she looked bewildered and out of breath. Had to chuckle a bit when Brandy pointed the finger at Maks for some iffy choreo, but also have to respect him for owning it – as opposed to throwing a shirt I think Brandy may one of the rare ladies that actually does better in the ballroom dances than the Latin ones, so hopefully she can recuperate with a foxtrot next week. I’m thinking Maks’ fanbase (which, if my office is any indicator, seems to have grown exponentially since last week!) will keep these two safe for awhile, but hopefully Brandy will improve – because with a competition this tight, it will turn out to be the battle of the fanbases.

7.) Kurt & Anna – Ahhh, my little ray of redheaded sunshine and her equally as lovable partner J Seriously – could this guy be any more adorable, and just an all-around class act? I actually really liked this jive too – Kurt kept up, his moves were clean, and he seemed to have a lot of fun with it. LOVED Anna’s costume! Wasn’t quite as tacky as I had hoped, but oh well – I’ll take good dancing over tacky themes if I can get it This was a vast improvement over last week. Kurt will likely have the NFL vote behind him for at least a few more weeks, and possibly more – if he improves from week-to-week like he did this time, he could actually make it to the semifinals. Team Evanna from last season seems to also be heavily throwing their support behind Team Kurtanna (poor Anna, there just aren’t a whole lot of creative team names to be made with a name like hers!), so these two will likely be safe as we weed out some of the less-skilled, less popular celebs.

8.) The Situation & Karina - I’ve got him this high solely because everyone seems to think he’s a riot, and look forward to hearing the crazy stuff he says each week. I really have to shake my head & chuckle a bit about the Sitch – for as much machismo and swagger as this guy throws around, he is completely INEPT when it comes to dancing – and he knows it, which is actually kind of endearing. Gotta give him props for effort – even if that effort doesn’t translate to a whole lot of success on the floor. This was pretty damn shuffly and out of step, but I did enjoy some of the more athletic parts – the little catch at the end was pretty cool. One thing that was very interesting to me – the Sitch seems to almost have the opposite problem of many of the guys on the show, in that he holds his frame too high as opposed to letting it crumble. Anywho, these two got a decent spot in the running order, and I think he’s still got the novelty factor on his side – but he will need to improve FAST in order to keep up with the Joneses in this competition. Interested to see his paso doble – I feel like it could be a turning point for him.

9.) Florence & Corky – Sorry, but I am just not feeling these two AT ALL. Blah. They do nothing for me – this routine was pretty damn boring, and it seemed like they were moving painfully slow for a quickstep. Ill-received comedy – blech. Uncomfortable shuffling and hauling Flo around the floor – blech. Corky is kinda disappointing me this season with his choreo – can’t believe I’m saying this, but I actually preferred some of the stuff he gave Cloris to some of the stuff he’s giving Flo. At least she seems to have reigned in some of the awkward behavior this week. These two could possibly be in trouble, due to a bad running order position (the dreaded #2) and a relatively low score. But I think they’ll barely make it in under the wire, due to some REEEALLLY low scoring from certain others…

10.) Margaret & Louis – Props to Louis for not going for the slapstick comedy this week, but unfortunately this seemed rather unmemorable to me. I actually have to disagree with both Louis & Carrie Ann – Marge’s facial expressions would’ve improved this dance, which otherwise seemed just…blah. Yes, Marge did keep up pretty well, but she was pretty heavy on her feet and the choreo wasn’t super hard. Overall, kinda low energy. I think they could be in more danger this week than last week, due to sheer boredom on the part of the voters, but if their near-miss last week was any indicator, they may have more fans than we think. Likely in the bottom two; but could get ousted if there’s a miracle pulled off by…

11.) Michael & Chelsie - To quote my good friend Brian, who was texting me during the show: “It’s rare when I actually feel embarassed for someone, but that did it.” Ooh wee – this was painful to watch. I could tell Chelsie had thrown in the towel when she proposed that Michael come out of a doghouse at the beginning of their routine. Self-fulfilling prophecy, perhaps? I’m not sure he’s even TRYING at this point…the odd semi-fight with Chelsie just made him seem kinda uptight to me, and I don’t even feel like he’s moving during his performances. My mom is convinced he’s deliberately trying to get sent home. I don’t think it was the WORST jive I’ve ever seen on the show (Master P’s will forever be the worst in my eyes), but it’s damn near close. Without doing the detailed math (I’ll leave that to Heidi), these two are gonna have to pull off a voting miracle in order to overcome the ridiculous point spread – and while I think Michael still may make women want to doff their undergarmets, I’m not sure its enough to counteract such a terrible score. I’m actually kinda hoping these two go home – it’s hard for me to watch Michael looked pained out on the floor, and it’s hard for me to see Chelsie have to put up with it. Sayonara, Bolton.

Ok folks, what say you? Will Michael make it out of the doghouse to foxtrot next week? Will Marge & Louis’ cautious routine be their undoing? Will Jenougher get the encore – can they even make it through a repeat performance? Will the Cheesecake Awards be epic? Let me answer that last one: YES.

Ultrasound sales specialist by day, semi-knowledgeable DWTS fan by night...with a smattering of hair & makeup enthusiast, occasional model, and crazy cat lady peppered in to make things REALLY interesting ;-) I might pee my pants in happiness if Donnie Wahlberg ever does DWTS - or if they ever use "Sunglasses at Night" as a paso doble. Check out some of my other work at pureamericasgottalent.com!

41 responses to "DWTS11 Week 2 Power Rankings"

I gotta give it up for Audrina and Tony – awesome job and totally worthy of their placement this week.

Jennifer may actually annoy me because she has such an amazing body for ANY age, let alone a 50 year old. Awesome dance, and I don’t envy Derek the stress of protecting her neck while still coming up with great dances.

Brandy – really disappointed by her dance, but like I said on twitter, I can vote for anyone who tells Maks to shut the hell up because someone else is talking. GO GIRL!!

The Situation? Is a total DORK. It struck me listening to and watching him tonight. He tries so hard to be cool, yet wants to do so well that he’s just a dork. I like dorks though. I’ll save the rest of my commentary for my post tomorrow.

Bristol Palin is going to be popular and if the judges score her like this, she can win. I do not want that to happen. Bristol Palin has her mother’s camp behind her so I am not surprised by her popularity. She is also young and athletic so her ability does not surprise me. Mark was not given a dud at all. But no way should Bristol outlast most of this cast. I was bothered by Carrie Ann comparing her to Kelly Osbourne. Kelly was a revelation and danced better than Bristol. Kelly had a charm to her that I do not get from Bristol.

Kyle and Lacey weren’t in the bottom 2 last week. Tom himself said that that wasn’t the order that the votes went in. If you look back you will see.

I am ready to declare Jennifer and Derek the winners of the season (a la Nicole and Derek last season). Which sucks, since I hate it when there are clear front-runners. I like Jennifer and Derek (DDEEERRRREEEEKKKK I LOVE YOU) and Jennifer is a hell of a dancer with a hell of a body for her age, but still. If I had to pull for someone I’d pull for Kyle and Lacey, simply because Kyle is adorable and I’ve loved Lacey since SYTYCD.

Quickstep and Jive aren’t really my thing, so I CANNOT WAIT FOR THE RUMBA. That’s my favorite ballroom dance and it always will be. I’ve taught my parents a couple rumba moves. They’re like, “Where did you learn this stuff?”

I thought Jennifer was amazing too. Isn’t that the same jive dress Nicole wore??? I think Jenougher will get the encore.

I am still not feeling Rick and Cheryl–the height difference bothers me and I thought Cheryl was doing 75% of the dancing.

Was Michael’s jive really worse than Kate’s last season? I am fans of both of them but I thought Michael moved more than Kate did and she was scored higher. I don’t even think they gave Buzz Aldrin a 3.

On a side note–Tom Bergeron absolutely hilarious! Can’t wait for Cheesecake Awards!

I was actually worried about Jennifer during the number. I’m sorry for always harping about the thyroid cancer thing, but it’s a lot more complicated than she’s letting on. It’s not just that you get your thyroid out – there is radiation, and lots of playing around with medication, including thyrogen shots every few months to keep the cancer from coming back in the salivary glands or voice box. Those drugs can have serious side effects and also have to periodically be altered. So when she was leaning on Derek while they got their scores, I was really watching her. I thought she was going to faint or something!

I thought she was amazing. I love how she and Derek move together, and how she kept up with him. He choreographed another beauty tonight.

Wow! What a great night. Jennifer and Derek killed it. They are sure becoming a fan favorite if it was any indicator of the audience booing at the judges for their score.
Have to say Audrina and Tony really stepped it up this week. I loved the comedy bit of Tony having to wax his legs. lol… Brandy didn’t cut it for me this week. I was disappointed and expected more. I have to agree with you Courtney about Brisol. The first thing I thought of when she danced was I want to root for her as she is coming off very likeable and she is actually learning and doing the dance compared to Kate. Kyle was great again.
Looking forward to the Cheesecake Awards as I noticed there were quite a few songs that were repeats. One I recognized off the bat was Florence and Corky’s. It was the same song Derek had with Jennie Garth. I saw on the message board on ABC while voting and noticed the complaining about Derek’s jive because it was the same song that Mak’s had in season 7 with Edyta when Misty withdrew.

@Heather. U really think that?? KATE MOVED WAY MORE!!!!!!! She may not of moved right at times but atleast she moved unlike Bolton! Dang he bombed, the most entertaining part of that routine was seeing Micheal Bolton is a dog house, Anyway…..

Jennifer and Derek: Awesome again! But suprised there was no improvment in score!
Audrina and Tony: WOW! I was worried bout this one models usally BO<B at quickstep " cough " Kathy Ireland and Joanna Krupa " cough " really impressed!
Kyle and Lacey: GREAT AGAIN!! A little ackwardness sometimes but hes so darn funnay and entertaining!! See ya next week! ( I reeeeeeeeally hope )
Bristol and Mark: I was really impressed! Needs to put on mo of a show but still great! Can anyone say Kelly Osbourne lol
Rick and Cheryl: Poor dude had alot working against him. Hieght, Foot Engery, and was the first on the floor! BUT he pulled off an awesome Jive!
Brandy and Maks: Expected more but still good
Kurt and Anna: Great Jive, Great dude, Great partner! Now that a recipe fo sucess!
Florence and Corky: I was impressed! The last time ( To mah knowledge ) a mo mature person did Quickstep was Wayne Newton and he bombed but Florence pulled ut off great!
The Situation and Karina: Ehh it was ok, An improvement ova last week tho.
Margaret and Louis: When u got 11 people dancing in one night its easy ta get lost in tha crowd….Exactly what they did. Sorry
Micheal and Chelsie: MEGA FAIL. Like i said, The mistake was getiing out of the doghouse…
Thoughts??

Nicole and Derek were competing against Evan and Anna. It was way too early to declare her the winner in week 2. It is still to early to say the same about Jennifer. If she is the best, I do not care who is her partner.

I had some concerns about Jennifer. Man, she looks great and dances well but I hope she maintains her stamina and does not suffer any ill effects. There’s something stressful about watching her besides the enjoyment.

I love Kyle. What if he actually starts to lose weight and his appearance changes? He’d have to stick around and really work, I know. But his whole image of himself is the fat funny guy. What if that image changed?

I don’t think any of them stood out this week. Jennifer was good, but nothing new and different from last week and she got the same score. And is anyone finding Derrek’s choreography repetitive? It just seems the same for every season for every dance.

Rick was mediocre.

Brandy was good, but not great, I expected so much more, I don”t know what it was, the music, the choreography, a mixture of everything perhaps. i really hope she can stay in so she can redeem herself next week.

Also, I hated the way Tom Bergeron kept interrupting and hurrying the judges so they could get to commercial. I know, I know they have to finish on time, and I heart me some Tom, but it was really annoying last night.

Loving all of your thoughts on this!!!xxx I was blown away by Jennifer and once again, KYLE!! He has all the moves, the fun personality, and he’s so entertaining. I love his giggles. Brilliant choreography by Lacey again. I’m gaining a lot of respect for her this year. I loved and would put Audrina and Tony third. I love how she is coming out of her shell. Rick and Cheryl 4th. Rick was very light on his feet and totally having fun. I was impressed. Next was Maks and Brandy. I thought her steps needed to be faster. Same with Bristol but she was better than last week surprisingly. Then there was Margaret and Louis. I thought they were better than last week but it was still sluggish. Same with Florence. But, the worst of the night was clearly Michael Bolton. I think and hope it’s his time to go.

@Lola – Yes, I realize that Kyle & Lacey weren’t necessarily the bottom 2. However, their presence in the final two is definitely a tactic by the “powers that be” to give the impression that they’re in danger, without actually lying to us. You’d be surprised at how many people don’t pay close attention when Tom says “they may not actually be the bottom 2, but one of them is going home” and consequently, assume that their favorite is in danger – I’m guessing this week will be a votes spike for Kyle & Lacey due to that faux “scare” last week.

@Blake – I’m guessing Lacey was wearing some sort of strange hybrid of a tutu, a cream puff, and an acrobat’s leotard from the circus, lol Definitely the worst costume of the night, IMO!

@Kurt – I <3 Kurt too! He just seems like the nicest guy ever – loves his wife, loves his kids, loves God, loves LIFE. And he's got a goofy side, too! I really hope he sticks around for awhile, because I cannot help but smile when I watch him.

@Karla – Really, after 11 seasons of the show, I think it's hard for any of the pros to not have their choreo come off as "repetitive". There's only a certain number of ways to do flicks in jive or chasses in quickstep, so after awhile, things are going to feel a bit familiar – and that's ok. Without some semblence of familiarity for each dance, everything would just be a free-for-all. So while you may feel like Derek's choreography is repetitive, I think all the pros are repetitive to some degree…and it's impossible to avoid.

I agree with everyone that The Situation is a total dork – and I love it. I actually didn't vote last week (too busy with an internet connection that was flaking out and was hurrying to finish my rankings), but I did this week, and I gave all my votes to him. He's fun to watch and I do think he'll improve if given enough time. I really hope he sticks around and gets the paso doble next week, because I think he could really do well at it. He's definitely coming across far more likeable than I initially thought.

No, heather, not the same Jive dress on Jennifer and Nicole. Jennifer’s was actually cut WAY more in the back. Which is extremely brave for a 50 year old. Jennifer’s also had MUCH longer fringe – which she was clearly having a great time with. At first I was like, why is she walking like that – then I realized she was making her fringe swing. She really is a kid at heart.

Carlie – I was pretty worried about Jennifer after that dance too – she really looked like she was going to throw up. But she did say that she didn’t have to have chemo or radiation for her cancer.

As to whoever said Derek’s choreography was “repetitive” – frankly, I think most of the dances seem repetitive on this show. Not only do all the pros have certain moves that they know work, but there are a whole bunch of REQUIRED moves in a given dance. If you DON’T do them (like Derek has done in the past) you get crucified, so now people complain because a dance seems repetitive? Clearly there is no winning for some of the pros on this show. The point is to make the dance fit the celeb, make it exciting and pull it off WELL. Derek and Jennifer did that very, very well.

Just to clear something up, Carlie said:s It’s not just that you get your thyroid out – there is radiation, and lots of playing around with medication, including thyrogen shots every few months to keep the cancer from coming back in the salivary glands or voice box. Those drugs can have serious side effects and also have to periodically be altered.

It’s true that thyroid cancer requires a lot of maintenance as well as life-long medication to replace the hormones your body can longer make. But Thyrogen shots are used only for testing purposes (in lieu of medication withdrawal,) It’s more typical to have them just once, maybe twice, a year, to test certain blood levels. It’s not a preventative medication at all. But it does help doctors detect rising levels that might indicate a return of the cancer.

That being said, Jennifer has had four operation in the past year, and the fact that she has the stamina to do this kind of intensive activity is quite a testament to her. That’s particularly true if it took a while for her thyroid medication to get stabilized, because too much or too little can leave you utterly exhausted.

Enough of the thyroid cancer education. I’m impressed by Jennifer, Rick, and Kurt. I was pleased to see progress by Audrina and that Margaret and Louis didn’t sabotage themselves again this week. Margaret, The Situation (ridiculous name!), Kyle, and Bristol strike me as having the potential to grow into much better dancers than I originally expected, though I think it will take longer than this season to see it on most of them. I’m not thrilled that Bristol is on the show, but since she is, I have to say that she’s more than holding her own. As for Florence, too bad she didn’t get on a few seasons ago. Still, she’s got much more agility and musicality than Cloris, Buzz, and the other older celebrities who have been on in the past.

@MN – You are right that the thyrogen is used for testing purposes, but they also combine it with radioactive treatment to destroy remaining thyroid particles because the cancer can wind up in the salivary glands or voice box. Also, even though Jennifer didn’t have to undergo chemo, she did have to swallow a radioactive pill after she had her thyroid out. We have a family history of thyroid cancer, and there’s no way I can picture any of my family members doing a jive less than a year after their thyroidectomies! I’m just proud of Jennifer Grey is all. I think she’s amazing. We had friends watching the show with us last night and everyone kept saying, “NO! She’s not 50?

First of all, just wanna thank Heidi fo doin all that hard math!! lol! Its gonna take a voting miracle for Micheal Bolton….. But this is turning out to be a great season! Oh and even tho i wanted Audrina to get atleast three 8s too i aint gonna say i didnt ROFL after seeing the clip and Bruno pulling out that 7 last after Len and Carrie Ann gave 8s LOL AWESOME! Haha, And is it just meh or is Brooke gettin alot better at co-hosting?

Well, no, you can’t actually KNOW how accurate they are in who wins the fan vote every week because we are never told who the top vote getter is until the very last show. Even then we are not told – it’s possible for someone to get more votes and still lose.

They can probably be accurate in predicting who will go home, because they are measuring a lack of investment, but other than that I doubt it VERY much. It doesn’t make any sense from a scientific point of view. As for predicting the winner – well, that’s a bit easier if they are getting half a million voters deciding between 3 people, statistically speaking. But the more people you add into the mix, the less accurate it’s likely to be. For the exact same reason that Dial on Idol is not accurate. In any case, you can’t measure their accuracy on any point other than who wins the show and who goes home every week – and neither of those is terribly difficult going strictly by numbers.

Heidi, over 600,000 hits on that site. It does account for something…it’s trends. Last season it really accurately predicted Nicole and Derek, when they did well and when they lost the fan vote…first week of the season Maks and Erin got the fan vote, then Nicole and Derek with the Quickstep that wasn’t, then as it got further on Evan and Anna … it showed the weeks that they lost ground and the weeks that put them ahead. These three couples were going back and forth on the fan vote. It was pretty fascinating to watch. Derek and Nicole happened to get the fan vote when it counted, but they did get a real challenge. In fact week 4 of the Rumba Pam and Damian won the fan vote.

No, Andie, you’re not understanding me. You don’t KNOW who’s getting the fan vote WHERE IT COUNTS and who isn’t – the show never reveals that information. Therefore you don’t KNOW if the site is accurate in terms of who’s in first and who’s in second and so on. It’s just not possible. Period. The prediction of who wins and who will go home is a different story – of course you can measure their accuracy on that because it actually IS revealed. And simply going by the NUMBERS, that’s a very easy thing to do. If we set up polls and let people vote every week, we might get it right a good bit of the time too.

Because that’s not a well known site, whereas everyone who’s going to vote DOES go to ABC.com, it’s not necessarily reflective of reality. It’s not likely getting the same volume or, more importantly, the same demographic of voters. Plus, when you allow longer voting times it allows the really ardent fans to have a much larger impact than they do in reality, when the voting time is restricted – to put it simply, most people STOP voting in a reasonable time frame. The really invested fans WON’T – for that reason, they have a much larger impact on a site that allows long term voting (like that crap faxo site, for example). It also doesn’t take into account phone or texts, so it’s going to be biased in favor of people who strictly use the net. While it is very unlikely that it predicts the top vote getter of a given week, it’s much more likely to predict who goes home. You can spam vote the site and disguise the real vote getters in reality, but you can’t disguise a LACK of votes. You follow me?

ETA: To emphasize my point, I just went back to that site and the number 1 and number 2 couples have switched in the last few hours – well after voting on ABC.com has closed. Someone is spamming the site with votes AFTER the average voter has quit. That biases the results in such a way so that it is less likely to reflect the reality that ABC sees when they count the votes.

It doesn’t matter if someone is spamming after the vote closed. That doesn’t count.

The accuracy of that site over the last 3 years is reason enough for me to look at it as credible. People who are motivated to vote will vote numerous times. Just like how it is encouraged on ABC. So that is reflective of the fan vote.

It’s like votenumber1.com, it’s too bad that site dismantled.
In Season 8 it went back and forth all night long of the finale. When they closed the vote, Shawn was .32% votes higher than Gilles. And, what happened. Shawn won by less than 1% of the vote.

@Carlie: I have a history of thyroid cancer. Thyrogen is given to prep people for RAI treatment, but it’s not a part of the treatment per se. It doesn’t have a role in attacking the cancer cells. (http://www.thyca.org/UnderstandingThyrogen2009.pdf, pp 5-8) But you’re right in saying it’s quite impressive that Jennifer has the energy to do this show. And if she went hypo (didn’t use Thyrogen to prepare for her radioiodine treatment), it’s even more so, because that really does a number on you. At 50 years old and with four surgeries in the past year? My hat is off to her!

@ MN – Yes, it doesn’t attack cancer cells. It helps them show up, and if they show up they can be removed. One of our endocrinolgists does the thyroid injections 3 x’s a year on his patients in their first year to make sure it’s not spread to the salivary glands, vocal chords, etc. We have a family history of thyroid cancer and after having just gone through this with a third family member, a fourth had her thyroid removed and is waiting to find out if it’s cancer or not. I’m in Canada, so maybe we use the thyrogen/scanning protocol differently, but it’s how we do it. I don’t mean to drone on about thyroid cancer. I’m just amazed she had the stamina for a jive of that caliber. It was really amazing.

Jennifer and Derek are definitely the favorites this season as you could see in the first episode by the comments and the sobbing of Carrie Ann.Her and Derek’s score will always be high by her.As for Brandy I think she is a better dancer than some of the others but the viewers will have to help her stay.And as for Ms Palin her scores were unfounded especially by Len the harshest judge on the panel,yet her scored her higher than did Carrie Ann and the other judge.I think they show bias when scoring as do all other shows of this type.That’s why I get turned off so quickly.I start off looking for a good show because I like the dancing but,when you see the first show and the scale of favortism starts immediately then I get turned off .So this will be my last week of watching.Have fun guessing and scoring.

Well, I’m glad it’s enough for you, Andie – but that doesn’t change what I’m saying and that is, you don’t actually KNOW who is in 1st, 2nd, 3rd and so on. Therefore you have no idea if they are accurate in those areas. From where I’m sitting it’s highly unlikely that they can be accurate on anything more than who’s going home, for the reasons I’ve said.

Flo, I will agree that Bristol was scored to high. But Jennifer and Brandy? Jennifer danced a FAR better Jive than Brandy and certainly deserved her score. Brandy also deserved hers – that was a very sloppy Jive.

This show has been like this all 11 seasons and you’re just now figuring it out? Have fun finding something else to watch.

@Heidi the show doesn’t divulge who is in 1st 2nd or 3rd but if you have a site that is recording a half a million votes, you can tell who is trending the strongest. Combined with the judges vote that’s more than an an educated guess.

The problem with having Bristol Palin and Sarah Palin was to draw ratings.

This is wrong and not being fair to the other dancers who are more quailified to be in the show. Yes the votes were unfair and were given higher marks then what Bristol deserved Reason Sarah Palin was there, Its not even fair to Bristol to give her a signal its ok to be
exploiting herself. Her so called wanting to dress moderate only proves its trying to have your cake and eat it. Candies would and should be concerned about her image. Why is ok to exploit yourself and we all know Money is the big factor. Please lets show respect to all and be fair in votes. We all know Bristol has no real dance skills. I love dancing and I hate to see the wonder art of dancing be used .